Lewis Hamilton highlights 0.4s Ferrari deficit after surprise front row

SEPANG – Lewis Hamilton admitted his surprise to have earned a front-row start for the Bahrain GP in Malaysia, having only expected to have pace for the third row in Sepang.

Hamilton will line up beside Max Verstappen for Sunday’s race, with the Red Bull driver having been on form throughout qualifying to take his first pole position of the 2026 season.

Lewis Hamilton credits Ferrari progress despite Red Bull power deficit

Hamilton expressed his delight over team radio after taking second place in Malaysia, his first front row appearance in nine races – a round which he then went on to win, in Barcelona.

The seven-time World Champion pointed to a significant power deficit Ferrari carries compared to Red Bull for where it loses time over a lap, adding the Scuderia looks to make the most of its chassis instead to be competitive of a weekend.

Ferrari’s own data had put the team around third-fastest for the weekend so far, but Hamilton credits the work behind the scenes for how he was able to clock a strong lap on Saturday.

“Yes, definitely,” Hamilton replied when asked if it was a surprise to reach the front row.

“Firstly, congrats to Max. He’s been so quick all weekend. We were kind of looking at fifth or sixth throughout the weekend in ultimate pace compared to the rest, and we saw Mercedes came with a big upgrade and, considering they’ve been winning every race, I thought the upgrade would really propel them even further forwards.

“It’s just interesting to find ourselves here. The car felt great. We made lots of changes. I think they’ve got a great package, Red Bull. We’ve obviously been making some great progress and the only place we lose is down the straights to them.

“I think we’re losing three or four tenths on the straights to them, which we know of, and so we just work as hard as we can to try and maximise the corners – but I think we were able to do that today. So, this is really down to the mechanics and the engineers.

“We all did a really great job together, and then also execution was really on point. So if we could keep this up, hopefully we can get better results moving forwards.”

How qualifying unfolded at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Verstappen dominates as Hamilton makes front row

F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying records between teammates

Hamilton went on to win the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix from second on the grid earlier this year, and admitted setting a car up properly this season has been a “moving target” for teams.

Should Ferrari overcome its power deficit, however, he hopes to go toe-to-toe with Red Bull on a more regular basis.

“The thing is that these cars are so sensitive,” the Briton explained.

“You make the smallest change, and it’s ridiculous the difference it can make from one run, one session to the other. You know, one click of front wing or one millimetre of ride height, a quarter of degree of camber, or point one of tow, something like that.

“These little things make such a big difference to balance, and it’s literally a moving target that you’re trying to work around with setup, and then also controls that we have.

“But, mastering all that together is a massive challenge, and obviously makes it even harder for us because I think we’re so on the edge because we are losing so much on the straights, so I’m just hoping that we continue to work hard.

“If we get to a point where we have base power with these guys, I think we’re going to have an even better fight in future.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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